I first went to Ole Ole Bali back in 2013, and as soon as we bought out tickets to KL this year, it was one of the first places I jotted down on my “must-visit” list.

Ole Ole Bali is not exactly an “authentic” experience, but I feel that the restaurants that really make you feel like you’ve been transported to another land are usually overdressed to begin with; it’s theatrical, really– and that’s what makes for the best pictures.

According to my sister, cousin and friends who live in Sunway, Ole Ole Bali is “fine dining”. I always inwardly rolled my eyes at them for not knowing better, but on my recent trip I realized that Ole Ole Bali is one of the more expensive options in Sunway Pyramid Mall.

I’d highly recommend this place if you’re looking for good ambience in addition to good food, and want some great pictures to take back home. These folks have got beautiful seating, both outdoors and indoors, and I chose to sit indoors, on the floor (because easier shots of flatlays–but of course).

Among the three of us, we ordered two sharing platters (No. 59 and No. 64), a pitcher of Barley juice, and were quite stuffed.

No. 59 was called Nasi Campur, which comprised of of Balinese grilled chicken, prawns, squid, fish, beef (or chicken) Rendang and Sate Lilit. This medley of fragrant and flavorful savories is served with Lawar Kacang, Rempeyeg (anchovy crackers), Sambal Terasi and Sambal Matah.

N0. 64 was the Siap Mepanggang, which was BBQ chicken with spicy coconut sauces. It came with Nasi Kuning (rice with turmeric), sauteed kang kung, Lawar Kacang (snake bean salad), Rempeyeg (anchovy crackers), Sambal Terasi and Sambal Matah.

Although the entire meal was delicious, the most memorable items on our platters were the Lawar Kacang and the Sate Lilit. Lawar Kacang (arguably the most traditional Balinese dish), is a snake bean salad with so many ingredients that I’ll need to do a separate post on it. Suffice to say, like most Far Eastern dishes, it was dreamily fragrant and I could have eaten a huge bowl of this alone. It was so, SO good. Sate Lilit is basically a coconutty minced meat kabab, skewered onto a lemongrass stalk. Sigh.

What peeves me is that the service was pretty lousy, and across all the restaurants that we dined at in Malaysia this seemed to be a more common phenomenon than not. Perhaps this is because service charges are always factored into the bill, and tipping is not a norm, so serve staff feels no motivation to go the extra mile?  Our server completely forgot half our order, was pretty nonchalant when we checked up on it and then unapologetically informed us that she forgot about it and it’s coming now. We ended up spending an hour and a half on this meal, due to the the laid back attitude of the staff and that’s far longer than I’d care to spend on a meal while on vacation and strapped for time.

This entire meal cost about R.M. 125

Location: Bandar Sunway